National Coral Reef Monitoring Program
Climate Monitoring Brief: Puerto Rico
Orbicella faveolata in St. Croix, USVI
Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory Coral Program
University of Miami Cooperative Institute of Marine and Atmospheric
Science
National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration
N. Besemer, A. Palacio, A. Webb, G. Kolodziej, T.Gill, I. Enochs - XX 2023
About this summary brief
The NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) conducts the long-term National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) to track the status and trends of coral reef ecosystems of the U.S. Atlantic and Caribbean coral reef jurisdictions. This summary brief provides an overview of the most recent survey efforts to Puerto Rico.
Expedition summary
- The NCRMP Atlantic climate monitoring team recently traveled to Puerto Rico from May 17th to May 25th, 2023
- 16 different sites were visited by four team members and collaborators completing a total of 51 dives.
- These sites represent temporal‐resolution monitoring with moored instruments at fixed time‐series which are placed on depth gradient to assess how vertical structure affects reef status and trends.
Data collection
- Subsurface temperature recorders (STRs) were recovered and redeployed at all 6 transects, each one composed by 4 depths (Fig. 1). Overall, more than 4 million temperature observations were collected:
| Location | 1m | 5m | 15m | 25m | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arecibo | 105,139 | 557,457 | 298,970 | 568,609 | 1,530,175 |
| Culebra | 238,140 | 211,204 | 331,928 | 306,518 | 1,087,790 |
| Jobos Bay | 605,123 | 316,687 | 622,946 | 512,922 | 2,057,678 |
| La Parguera | 622,965 | 513,059 | 362,198 | 404,737 | 1,902,959 |
| Rincon | 453,283 | 286,086 | 270,786 | 384,289 | 1,394,444 |
| Fajardo | NA | 479,577 | 178,362 | 575,034 | 1,232,973 |
## [1] "pH = 205 observatons"## [1] "Current = 205 observatons"## [1] "Light = 202 observatons"NCRMP Climate fixed sentinel site monitoring
At La Parguera, 5m site, located in SW Puerto Rico short term instruments (54h) were deployed to monitor daily fluctuations in: * Current: 205 observations * pH: 205 observations * Light: 202 observations * Carbonate Chemistry: 15 samples collected * Carbonate budget surveys: Benthic cover, sponge, urchin and parrotfish surveys completed at 6 transects
Habitat persistence
Changes in bioerosion and accretion were monitored: * Carbonate budget surveys: Benthic cover, sponge, urchin, and parrotfish surveys completed at six transects * Bioerosion: 60 Bioerosion Monitoring Units (BMUs) collected, 60 redeployed * Calcification: 30 Calcification Accretions Units (CAUs) collected, 30 redeployed * Benthic cover: 6 landscape mosaics
Figure 1: Study sites and depths in Puerto Rico.
Subsurface temperature
The temperatures that marine organisms experience are a function of local oceanographic conditions and vary with depth. To monitor subsurface temperature, six transects were established around the island. Each transect consists of STRs at four depths (1, 5, 15, 25m; Fig.2). Two years of temperature measurements were retrieved and processed from the 24 sites. Temperature was measured using SeaBird Electronics Subsurface Temperature Recorders (STR)s that collected data at 5-minute intervals. The COVID - 19 pandemic delayed collection in 2020 and local contractors were hired to swap the instruments as travel was not allowed. Some gaps exist in the data as not all instruments survived the extended deployment time. The entire record from 2017 to 2023 is shown to aid with comparison.
Figure 2: Temperature conditions at six locations in Puerto Rico (Rincon, Arecibo, Jobos Bay, La Parguera, Culebra, Fajardo) representing a depth gradient (1m, 5m, 15m and 25m). Data were collected from XX 2017 to May 2023 However, the COVID 19 pandemic caused a significant delay in collection of these instruments. Contractors were hired to complete the work in 2021 as travel was not allowed. Some instruments survived the entire deployment but others have not.
Mean temperature values were similar among the locations and depths. The lowest temperatures generally occurred in February (mean: 26.5\(^\circ\)C, min: 24.7\(^\circ\)C, max: 28.5\(^\circ\)C) and the highest temperatures in September (mean: 29.4\(^\circ\)C, min: 25.4\(^\circ\)C, max: 32.2\(^\circ\)C). explain more gaps and issues here?
Diurnal suite deployment
Seawater carbonate chemistry can fluctuate diurnally, due to biological forcing processes such as photosynthesis andrespiration, as well as calcification and dissolution. Tocharacterize this, discrete water samples (Fig. 3) were collected at three-hour intervals (n=15) using SubsurfaceAutomatic Samplers (SAS, www.coral.noaa.gov/accrete/sas).
These samples will be analyzed for Total Alkalinity (TA), Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC), and SpectrophotometricpH (SpecpH), which will be used to calculate pCO2 and aragonite saturation state (ΩAragonite). A suite of instrumentswas deployed for a 72-hour period at the East Bank 20m site. A SeaFET was used to log pH, an EcoPAR measured Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR), and a Lowell Tiltmeter measured current speed and direction. Each collected measurements at 15-minute intervals (Fig. 2).
Figure 3: Data from La Parguera diurnal suite monitoring from May 21st to May 23rd. Top panel: pH and temperature fromSeaFET. Bottom panel: Photosynthetically Available Radiation (PAR) and current speed from EcoPAR and Tiltmeter. Shading denotes nighttime throughout sequence of the plot. Instruments measured parameters every 15 minutes.
Figure 4: Submered Automated Samplers (SAS) deployed to collect water samples every 3 hours
Habitat persistance
Carbonate budget assessments use transect-based surveys to quantify the abundance of carbonate producers (e.g., Corals and Crustose coralline algae), and carbonate bioeroders, (e.g., parrotfish and sea urchins). Abundances are multiplied by taxon-specific rates of carbonate alteration to determine if a reef is in a state of net accretion (habitat growth) or net loss (habitat loss) in Fig 5. At La Parguera, six transects were surveys in 2015, 2017 and 2023 to obtain carbonate budgets. These data show stable carbonate production over the monitoring timepoints
Figure 5: Carbonate budgets Salt River Bay in 2019 and 2022 and the processes contributing to calcification and bioerosion. Carbonate budgets declined in 2022 compared to 2019, mainly due to the reduction in coral production and the increase in urchin erosion.
The transect results showed that carbonate budgets have become negative in 2022, which implies that this site has shifted to being net erosional over the past 3 years.
- Calcification Accretion Units (CAUs) and Bioerosion Monitoring Units (BMUs) were collected and redeployed for the next sampling cycle. CAUs are processed by the Pacific Climate group and the data will be available within a year. BMUs will be dried and cleaned using a hydrogen peroxide solution. These samples will be weighed and scanned using a Macro CT scanner and then compared to their pre-scans to quantify bioerosion. Data will be available in a year. Please reference previous data sets for more information.
Figure 6: CAU and BMU pair before retreval after being deployed for 3 years. CAUs are 2 parallel PVC plates to quantify settled accretors. BMU is mounted coral skeleton installed at the base of the metal stake and has been encrusted.
About the monitoring program
AOML’s climate monitoring is a key part of the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program of NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP), providing integrated, consistent, and comparable data across U.S. Managed coral reef ecosystems. CRCP monitoring efforts aim to:
- Document the status of reef species of ecological and economic importance.
- Track and assess changes in reef communities in response to environmental stressors or human activities.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of specific management strategies and identify actions for future and adaptive responses.
Point of Contact
Atlantic Climate team lead: nicole.besemer@noaa.gov
Principal Investigator: ian.enochs@noaa.gov
NCRMP Coordinator: erica.towle@noaa.gov
For more information
Coral Reef Conservation Program: http://coralreef.noaa.gov
NCRMP climate monitoring: https://www.coris.noaa.gov/monitoring/climate.html
NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/
Acknowledgements
These efforts were jointly funded by NOAA’s CRCP and OAP. We would like to sincerely thank the National Park Service as well as Caribbean Sea Adventures for supporting our field efforts and assisting monitoring surveys
Our Team
Puerto Rico, 2023 Field team
AOMLs NCRMP Atlantic and Caribbean Climate Team: I. Enochs, N. Besemer, G. Kolodziej, A.Boyd, M. Jankulak, A. Palacio-Castro, A. Webb, B. Chomitz